MLA Foster nixes amphitheatre proposal at Okanagan College

June 1, 2016

"It’s a good idea – potentially very good for the community – but it’s the wrong location. I feel that an amphitheatre at that location would degrade the quality of life for residents who live near the campus."

Plans for an amphitheatre that would hold up to 5,500 people were unveiled last December by the Okanagan Summer Festival Society.

The proposal was met with wide opposition with concerns focused on noise, parking and traffic congestion in the neighbouring residential area in Coldstream.

“It’s a good idea – potentially very good for the community – but it’s the wrong location,” Foster said. “I feel that an amphitheatre at that location would degrade the quality of life for residents who live near the campus.”

As owner of the land in question, the provincial government has final say on development matters. “I made my feelings – and the feelings of local residents – clear to the Ministry of Advanced Education that this project should not go ahead, and the ministry agreed,” Foster said.